Author Archives: diealoguecafe

You Only Live Once, so the mantra goes. On the surface this may seem to be absolutely true, sort of. Depending on your worldview.  But a quick look behind the veil and a completely different reality may come into focus. … Continue reading →

Denial still seems to be the order of the day when it comes getting our end-of-life affairs sorted out.. This story has a good outcome, because the person dying had put in place the necessary documents to assist those who … Continue reading →

When pain and suffering become intolerable, the right to intervene to permit a more dignified and peaceful ending would seem like a no brainer. But despite most people agreeing with such thinking, our elected parliamentarians for the most part have … Continue reading →

This last 12 months the narratives that have stood us in good stead for many a long year, have been challenged in many ways – fake news being the most virulent example. This article by Adam Szymanski: How to Build … Continue reading →

Happy and celebratory times for many may be counter balanced with less than happy and perhaps mournful times for others. Dying and death doesn’t pay much attention to human invented events such as Christmas so it’s little wonder that there … Continue reading →

This isn’t the first time the biggest funeral provider in Australia has been called out for treating customers rather badly. Rani Hayman in: Choice hands Shonky awards to InvoCare funerals and Harvey Norman’s partnership with Latitude Finance (ABC News, 9 … Continue reading →

There’s no rule that says a coffin must be made of wood, that it must be polished and lined with plush fabric. That it has to have fancy gold handles and an engraved gold plaque. The funeral industry tries to … Continue reading →

Renowned Australian author and historian Richard Flanagan has published a new book titled: The Living Sea of Waking Dreams. He joined Richard Fidler on ABC radio and what follows is a selection of extracts from this Conversations interview. (The) Title … Continue reading →

In attempts to demystify the end-of-life conversations we have, the number of studies and publications covering the many aspects involved is starting to reach saturation point. How many ways can you say the same thing? Here is another one for … Continue reading →

It’s normal to die.  Death is all around us.  It’s the way nature does life.  The death of one is life giving for another.  Take a rainforest or the ocean.  These two great systems thrive on the cycling of nutrients … Continue reading →